Everything I Do, I Do for You
by FlipoutPenguin
Summary: Once again, Molly is lying unconscious in the infirmary of her boyfriend the good doctor Jin, and he can't figure out why she's exerting herself so much recently. Maybe a dig through her rucksack will give him a clue...


Holy crap, how long has it been? So so sorry to any followers I've gotten over the years, but for a while, I just haven't been feeling the normal writing flow... Anyway, this one had been sitting unfinished and collecting dust in my files for a while, so I decided to pick it back up and add the finishing touches to it. My apologies to any fans of my lemons. Just at least know that I still have some in progress, and they might get done eventually when I feel inspired again (I'm constantly tweaking them.)

About this fic... Sometimes, I feel weirdly inspired to write about characters that aren't at the top of my favorites list, and this is an example of one of those times. Don't get me wrong, I love almost all of the ToT/AP characters, but Jin falls slightly lower on the list when compared to, say, Julius or Gill. However, this fic popped up anyway because I like to experiment with new characters from time to time.

Once again, no lemon. Just romance and mild fluff. Hope it doesn't suck. I'm a little out of practice.

xxxxx

Harmonica Town's only doctor sat slumped forward at his desk, an elbow resting against the surface and a hand to his cheek to keep his head from slipping every time he dozed. He glanced blearily at the digital clock in front of him.

Midnight.

Being the both faithful and influential doctor he was, Jin kept to a rigorous schedule to maintain his health: proper eating, exercise, and keeping to a reasonable bedtime. He knew he should have been asleep hours ago, but…

He turned in his swivel chair to stare at the source of his sleepless state. Molly…

There lay his love, a rag doll atop a hospital bed, unconscious and unaware of his gaze. She had passed out…_again_, in Fugue Forest this time. Luckily, the local carpenter boy, Luke, had been gathering lumber in the area and happened upon her lifeless form. He had been gracious enough to toss her over his shoulder, potato sack-like, and carry her to the clinic. According to him, she had been halfway to dismantling a ridiculously large pine when she finally keeled over from exhaustion, judging by the axe on the ground and the state of the tree which, despite having been hacked halfway through, stood proud and strong.

"Looks like the tree won this time, huh?" Luke had stated with an oblivious grin and a slap to his back.

The doctor was not amused. Instead, he immediately went about fussing over the girl until his grandmother felt the need to tell him to back off and "just give her some space and let her REST, boy!" And he would have been content to do that…if this weren't the umpteenth time a random villager had discovered and admitted her comatose body to his clinic. Indeed, he had done that the first few times, let her sleep there for the night and sent her home in the morning. But THIS many times? He knew something was afoot, but he had no idea what. He had seen her house, her barn… They were expanding at an unnatural rate. Clearly, she was going too fast and exhausting herself. After a while, he had asked her what the deal was, but she refused to say.

"Don't you worry about me, okay?" she had told him with a wide grin and a peck on the cheek.

Jin pulled the green ribbon from his hair, allowing the black locks to fan out and fall in a dark blanket about his shoulders. He found the strength to hoist himself up and settle on the edge of her bed. With slow, gentle fingers, he took her hand in his and caressed it.

Why couldn't Molly care about herself as much as he cared about her? What was so important that she would put her own health at risk to achieve it? Maybe if he discovered what it was, he could talk her into abstaining for a while, or at least get her to slow down… But what was causing her to push herself to such limits?

His eyes shifted to the rucksack that currently hung from the bedpost, sagging pathetically from a combination of wear and heaviness. Maybe he could find something there… With slow, careful movements so as not to disturb her, he leaned over and lifted the bag from its hanger. He almost dropped it. It was a lot heavier than its appearance suggested. He placed it in his lap and pulled open the flap, but then hesitated.

Was he really about to go through a woman's bag without her permission? An exasperated sigh fell from his lips. He turned his head to look at Molly once more. He took stock of the scrapes that marred her sun-scorched skin, the bags under her eyes, the sweat and dirt that was still apparent on her clothing. She was clearly running herself ragged. He was only trying to help…

As if to reassure himself, he gave a physical nod and began his exploration of her rucksack. Since the room was dark and the entrance to the bag fairly small, he found that his long fingers had difficulty navigating the contents inside. Was it even possible to fit all these items into this one little bag, let alone carry them? He could clearly feel the outlines of several tool handles. Hammer, clippers, brush, hoe…fishing rod? How in the world was that even possible?

Jin brushed past all of them and was met with various bags and small containers, which he pulled out and identified, one by one. Currently, he had taken stock of two bags of seeds, a bundle of parsley secured together with string, a Tupperware containing a half-eaten sandwich, and a plastic cup which looked like it used to be full of dirt (maybe for bait?). None of this was helping him. Once more, he jammed his hand inside the bag and fumbled through the clutter until he felt the cool plastic of another container in his hand.

He pulled it out to turn it over in his palm. It was hard colored plastic with a clasp on the outside to keep it shut; it looked like a pencil case. However, there were no pencils inside it, if anything at all, from what he could tell. It was incredibly light, suggesting that it was empty. Nonetheless, he unsnapped the lid to open it and reached inside, expecting to feel nothing.

Then he drew a sharp intake of breath.

The case wasn't empty, not at all. With delicate fingers, he grasped the item and lifted it from the case. He couldn't believe it. There, sat soft and delicate in his hand, was a feather. Shakily, he got to his feet and walked to his desk, where he held the fragile object under the light of his desk lamp.

His heart thumped noisily in his chest. It was blue… Of course it was. Was she really planning to…? Of course, they had had numerous conversations over the course of their courtship about marriage and that it would probably happen eventually…

Suddenly, it all made sense. The lumber, the caves, the fact that she would tell him nothing… It was all for him…

His heart felt like it was swelling as he turned to look at her unconscious form. Those bruises and scratches and that dirt that marred her clothing and hid beneath her fingernails was because she loved him. She really wanted to be with him for the rest of her life.

As quietly as he could, he carefully placed the case back into her bag and hung it back up. Then once more, he moved to the side of the bed to just watch her as she slept.

He loved this woman so much… He almost felt like he would tear up he was so overwhelmed. He realized he would still need to talk with her later, but he just couldn't find the drive to be upset with her at the moment. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to just take her in his arms and never let go, to kiss her endlessly and forget the world around them, to lose himself to her and never return.

Almost as if on cue, Jin saw the flutter of eyelashes. Molly was awake.

Blearily, she gazed up at him in confusion, her eyes only half open as she surveyed her current location.

"Jin?" she called in a soft voice. "Did I pass out again?"

Rather than give her a verbal response, the doctor leaned down to stroke her face with a warm glow in his eyes that Molly had never seen before. Before she had time to ask what was wrong, his lips had descended upon hers with a passion she had never experienced. When he finally broke for air, he pressed his forehead to hers and grasped her hand.

"I love you," he whispered, and then he kissed her again, and with each break for air he repeated these words until she forgot any need for questions.

For now, all she needed was him.

xxxxx

And there you have it. As I said, I still have other fics in the works, and I even have a lemon in progress that's from another fandom! *gasp* I've been feeling the inspiration again because my location has changed (I'm in Japan for school right now) and I've been looking for activities to keep me busy. So writing has been coming back to me a little bit. However, that doesn't necessarily mean the updates will come a'flowin' again. It DOES mean I'm TRYING, though. Keep a lookout. Who knows? :)

To anybody who reads this: Thank you so very much for your attention. It means a lot.


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